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Acusado de ser uno de los autores del asesinato de Víctor Jara, Pedro Pablo Barrientos Núñez, enfrentará a fines de febrero un juicio en Estados Unidos, país donde reside y que le otorgó la ciudadanía. Se trata de una demanda civil interpuesta en 2013, a nombre de su esposa, Joan Jara y sus dos hijas, por el Centro de Justicia y Responsabildiad de San Francisco.

With the recent capture of LRA commander Dominic Ongwen, CJA Executive Director Dixon Osburn discusses the United States’s inability to criminally prosecute a war criminal in its custody.

Robert E. White was the ambassador to El Salvador from 1980 to 1981, as the Salvadoran civil war began. He was critical of the Salvadoran military, regularly meeting with top commanders to confront them about killings, massacre and torture of civilians. White testified in three CJA civil cases against three of the highest level commanders of the Salvadoran military, and his persuasive voice lent credibility and gravitas to all of our work. Read more in this tribute by Senior Legal Advisor Carolyn Patty Blum on behalf of CJA.

CJA applauds the news that Vatican theologians reportedly have declared Archbishop Óscar Romero a martyr, a move which is seen as a step towards beatification. Click here to read more.

CJA welcomes Senator Feinstein’s proposed legislation to deter torture by the United States outlined in a letter sent to President Obama. CJA’s Executive Director Dixon Osburn said, “The United States strives to ensure that dictators and terrorists around the globe do not commit crimes against humanity, including torture; the United States should live up to those standards at home.” Click here to read more.

The genocide trial against former Guatemalan military dictator General Efraín Ríos Montt resumed briefly on January 5, 2015. The court suspended the trial after one of the judges recused herself. CJA stands with the Mayan-Ixil community and calls on the court to resume the trial expeditiously. Click here to read more.

CJA Legal Director Kathy Roberts discusses the new evidence presented in the Torture Report executive summary released by the Senate Intelligence Committee.

CJA Executive Director Dixon Osburn discusses the Senate Intelligence Committee’s recent release of the Torture Report executive summary.

On December 10, 2014, CJA sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder urging the Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation to determine whether charges should be filed against any official who committed or authorized torture, or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment based on the findings contained in the Senate Intelligence Committee’s study of CIA interrogation and detention practices after 9/11. Read the letter here.

CJA Staff Attorney Nushin Sarkarati took part in a panel discussion on victim participation in criminal proceedings at a side event for the Assembly of State Parties at the UN headquarters in New York. Drawing on CJA’s long history of representing victims directly in universal jurisdiction claims, Sarkarati explained how victim participation and testimony is essential to understanding the full breadth of human rights abuse and how participation in justice mechanisms is an integral part of the healing process for victim communities.